Opening Eyes
by Tesekian
Summary: x-over with The Sentinel. While translating a tablet about Sentinels Daniel starts acting very strangely and makes his way to Cascade. Jack/Daniel slash, but nothing graphic
1. Default Chapter

Author's note: I'm not an expert on The Sentinel since I started watching near the end of season two and season three's only just started. If I make any mistakes, you'll have to forgive me. I've no such excuse if I make mistakes with the Stargate side of the story.   
  
This may be a slash story, but there's nothing graphic in it. I don't go into that sort of thing.   
  
***  
  
Daniel had stared at the tablet he was translating for so long that his eyes were beginning to ache, and still he'd only translated fragments. Amazonian tribes weren't his speciality.   
  
The tablet was talking about Sentinels. He'd managed to translate a section reading "seeing before others see" which suggested they had good senses, and another that talked about "blessed protectors." Unfortunately that didn't give them much to work with.   
  
He wondered if the Goa'uld had done some experiments to enhance human senses, Nirti had been into that sort of thing after all, to make a good host. But that didn't fit with the whole protector thing. Maybe some other alien race had done it. The Asgard had told Jack they'd been to Earth and studied humans. Would they manipulate their genetics? Probably not, but there were a load of other races they'd never met out there. The Furlings? They probably had the technology.   
  
He doubted they were just a myth since everything else mythological seemed to be real and in some way connected to outer space.   
  
"Recommend any good rocks I should read?"   
  
Daniel looked up to see Jack leaning nonchalantly against the door frame. He was almost glad for the interruption.   
  
"Your paperwork looking too menacing for you to loiter in your own office?" Daniel asked, getting up to pour Jack some coffee.   
  
"It's like the north face of the Eiger."   
  
"If you want you can translate the texts SG-16 brought back," Daniel suggested, "They're Latin."   
  
"If they're anything more complicated than 'Cornelia sub abore sedet' I doubt I'll be much help." Daniel laughed, and held out the coffee. Suddenly it was as though his legs gave way beneath him.   
  
The coffee cup shattered on the floor as he grabbed the edge of his desk to hold himself upright. Jack was at his side in an instant, supporting him and easing him into his chair.   
  
"I'm OK," Daniel said, feeling normal again. He wasn't sure what had just happened, but it had passed.   
  
"I'm calling Doc Fraiser anyway."   
  
"No, Jack, I'm just tired, that's all."   
  
"Tired doesn't make people collapse." Daniel knew that Jack would call her no matter how he protested, so he didn't say anything. He looked down at the tablet again. As he looked it seemed he could see every marking of the rock. Every indentation was clear and obvious.   
  
"Danny?" Jack asked. Only he yelled it. Daniel almost covered his ears.   
  
"No need to yell," he protested.   
  
"I didn't," Jack said at normal volume. He was looking at Daniel with a very concerned and confused look on his face. Daniel knew and feared that look. It meant Jack would insist on mothering him even though there was nothing wrong with him. He was just tired.   
  
It seemed Janet agreed with his assessment. Unfortunately she had to jab a load of needles in him before she would let him in on that.   
  
"I'll have to wait for the test results to be sure," she said, "but I think you're probably just tired. A few days rest would do you good. And when was the last time you had a proper meal?" Daniel had to admit that he couldn't actually remember. He normally lived off coffee and cookies in his office.   
  
"You are going home and you are not to come in for at least three days unless the world's in danger," Janet said, slipping into what Jack called her Napoleonic power monger mode. "You are to relax. And you are to eat properly."   
  
"Janet, I'm fine. . ." he started to protest.   
  
"Doctor's orders!"   
  
"But the translation I'm working on is very important."   
  
"I'm sure there are other linguists who can work on it for you."   
  
Daniel opened his mouth to protest again, but Jack interrupted. "It's obvious there's nothing seriously wrong with him, doc," he said, "he's acting like the cantankerous Daniel we all know and love."   
  
"Cantankerous?" Daniel asked, "Four syllables, is this a new personal best?"   
  
"I'd strangle you but the paperwork would probably kill me."   
  
"Take your argument outside," Janet said, "I'll talk to the general about your leave, Daniel." Daniel stood and was half-way to the door when she stopped him. "Oh, and I don't want you driving."   
  
"I'll give you a lift home," Jack offered as they walked towards the elevators.   
  
"Thanks, just let me pick up some stuff from my office."   
  
"No. I dread to think what Doc Fraiser would do to me if I let you work when you're supposed to be relaxing."   
  
"But the tablet. . ."   
  
"Can wait. Why did you bother pestering Hammond into getting you all these archeogeeks when you never let them do any work?" Daniel managed not to laugh at the archeogeek comment. It would do Jack no good at all if he let him know his jokes were sometimes funny.   
  
He didn't know why, but somehow he felt he needed to translate the rest of that tablet. It wasn't just the usual curiosity. This was something else. He had to know what that tablet said.   
  
Unfortunately, Jack wasn't convinced.   
  
***  
  
A short while later they were getting out of Jack's truck outside Daniel's apartment. Daniel didn't bother inviting Jack up, since he tagged along anyway. Some things didn't need saying between them.   
  
"Coffee?" he asked as soon as they were inside.   
  
"Since my last cup is now a nice puddle on your office floor, I wouldn't mind," Jack replied, dumping his leather jacket over the arm of one of the chairs on the way to the kitchen.   
  
"Sorry about that."   
  
"Don't worry, you're not quite yourself." Daniel went to switch the coffee machine on, and Jack leaned past him to get the mugs out of the cupboard. He was so close that Daniel could smell him, a mix of sweat and the shampoo he always used.   
  
"You smell," he commented.   
  
"Hey, you're no garden of roses yourself," Jack protested, clearly offended.   
  
"No, you smell sexy."   
  
"Um. . . thanks. . . I think." Daniel decided that he'd never tell Jack he looked cute when he was confused.   
  
He looked at him as though looking at him for the first time. His brown hair, with a little silver beside his forehead making him look distinguished. His brown eyes, sparkling with more intelligence than he ever let on. His firm lips so often smiling.   
  
Daniel had always liked Jack, but suddenly he found himself wanting him. This had happened a couple of times before, but never this strongly. Suddenly, he grabbed Jack and pulled him into a kiss.   
  
For half a second Daniel thought Jack was kissing back, then he made a muffled protest and broke away.   
  
"What are you doing?" he asked, somewhere between panic and confusion.   
  
"Kissing you." He would have thought that was obvious. He tried again, but their lips didn't even make contact this time. Jack gripped Daniel's shoulders and held him off.   
  
"Daniel, you're not acting like yourself. Don't do something we'll both end up regretting."   
  
"I'm not planning on regretting it."   
  
"I should go." Jack was out of there in such a rush he didn't even remember to pick up his jacket. Daniel just leaned back against the work surface and poured out his coffee. Jack had no idea what he was talking about. Sure Daniel had never come on to him before, but that didn't mean wanting him was unusual behaviour. Jack never saw himself in the shower.   
  
Suddenly it occurred to him what he'd just done. He'd made a pass at his best friend. His straight best friend. Now wonder he'd been freaked and run out. Daniel swore.   
  
He cared about Jack, more than he'd ever cared about anyone except maybe Sha're. And now he'd done something so stupid he didn't know if Jack would be able to face him again. He'd decided long ago not to tell Jack how he felt since it would ruin their friendship, and living without Jack was something he couldn't bear. Now he'd not only told Jack, he'd tried to force himself on him.   
  
Hopefully Janet's tests would find some alien disease and he'd be able to claim that as an excuse.   
  
He needed to talk to someone. His first instinct was Jack, but that wasn't right. He needed to talk to someone else. He couldn't think who for a moment, then he knew what he should do. It didn't make sense if he thought about it, so he tried not to think about it. But he knew where he should go.   
  
He was almost out the door when he remembered he wasn't supposed to be driving and came back in to phone for a cab. While he was waiting he phoned up the airport and booked a ticket on the first plane to Cascade.   
  
Now he just needed to figure out why he wanted to go to Cascade.   
  
***  
  
Author's note: So, what do you think? Please review and let me know. 


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: I'm sorry I took so long to update, I've been packing boxes. The next update will probably take just as long to get here due to unpacking boxes.   
  
Thanks to my reviewers.   
  
***  
  
Jack had been in a state of panic through most of the night. Several times he'd considered calling Daniel, but he was probably sleeping off the effects of whatever was affecting him. He'd said he was tired after all.   
  
It was such a shock that for a moment Jack had been certain he was dreaming. He had in fact had a couple of dreams in which Daniel featured in a rather physical context. But he knew Daniel wasn't like that, didn't think about him that way. He'd been married, for crying out loud!   
  
The little voice at the back of his mind pointed out that the same could be said for him. But Daniel had never shown any sign of being attracted to Jack. They were friends, that was all. It wasn't that he wasn't attracted to Daniel, he had eyes, but he knew Daniel didn't feel attracted to him. He'd given up on that hope a long time ago.   
  
That was why he'd had to get out of the apartment. If he'd stayed, with Daniel coming onto him he doubted he'd have been able to restrain himself. And then if Doc Fraiser had told him Daniel had been under the influence of an alien somethingorother he'd have hated himself for taking advantage. He cared about Daniel too much to let that happen.   
  
It was better he was away from Daniel.   
  
So why did he feel like he was deserting him? If Daniel was suffering from some alien disease or whatever, he ought to have stayed with him and made sure he was OK.   
  
He'd battled the thoughts round in his mind all night. Now it was early enough to be considered morning rather than night, and he was wondering if he should go over and see how he was. But Daniel hated getting up early.   
  
Instead he decided to phone Doc Fraiser.   
  
"Hey, Doc," he said as she picked up the phone in the infirmary. Another all-night shift. "Have you got the results from Daniel's tests?"   
  
"Yes, they're all normal."   
  
"Normal?"   
  
"Yes, I think he was probably right about being tired. Skipping meals doesn't help either. Make sure he eats properly." That was easier said than done. Every time he tried to convince Daniel to eat meals at regular intervals he complained Jack was mothering him. But if he didn't, Daniel would bury himself so deeply in his work it would take another archaeologist to dig him out again.   
  
As he hung up the phone, Jack was beginning to worry about something new. If Daniel wasn't under alien influence, then he'd kissed Jack because he wanted to. Because he wanted him. Jack wasn't sure how he could cope with that. It meant he'd have to do something about the feelings he'd had for a few years now. Daniel not wanting him was easier to cope with.   
  
He decided this was the sort of thing that had to be discussed face to face, although he and Daniel didn't do very well when it came to talking about feelings. Still, he couldn't just let this pass.   
  
So, still hideously early, he arrived at Daniel's apartment. The doorman recognised him at let him go up without needing to buzz Daniel to see if the guest was a welcome one or any of the things they usually did.   
  
When there was no answer to his knock Jack's protective instincts were leaping into panic mode. He knocked again, then took out his emergency key. It had seemed sensible after the number of times Daniel had to send Jack to feed his fish when he was stuck in the infirmary to just give Jack a key.   
  
As he opened the door he tried to tell himself Daniel was just sleeping off the exhaustion and hadn't woken up to his knock. He knew when he stepped inside it wasn't so. The place was empty.   
  
***  
  
Jim and Blair were in Simon's office. They were trying to figure out how to write a report up of their latest case. He didn't think it would go down too well if he wrote that he'd followed the murderer because he could smell his really bad cologne. It had been strong enough that he almost hadn't needed to turn up his senses to follow it.   
  
There was a knock on the door and one of the officers came in at Simon's call.   
  
"Sir, there's someone downstairs who was. . . well asking to speak to someone. He just came in and said, 'He's here. I need to speak to him.'"   
  
"Who?" Simon asked.   
  
"I don't know, he collapsed before we could ask. I couldn't see any injury but he seemed really frantic to talk to whoever it is."   
  
Five minutes later they were looking at the man collapsed on the floor of the police's department's lobby. He was face down on the floor, with a crowd of curious people around him.   
  
"All right, back off," Simon said, "You, call an ambulance." Jim knelt by the man. He didn't smell of blood, which was a good sign.   
  
"Maybe he's got some ID," Jim suggested, checking inside the man's pockets for a wallet. Sure enough there was one.   
  
"Dr Daniel Jackson," Jim read, looking at the guy's driving licence. "His address is in Colorado Springs."   
  
"Daniel?" Blair asked, "I know him. I was at university with him for a while."   
  
"You think he could have been coming to see you?" Simon asked.   
  
"Maybe," Blair replied, "but I can't think why. I haven't seen him in years."   
  
Jim put the guy's wallet back into his pocket, and he reached to check his pulse. As he touched his arm, the man suddenly leapt into action. He spun slightly so he could look at them, his hand automatically grabbing Jim's. He stared up at Jim with an intensity that was almost tangible.   
  
Then he spoke in a language that was very familiar to Jim. The language of the Chopec tribe. The tribe that had taken him in and taught him about being a Sentinel. Before Jim could say anything, the man was unconscious again.   
  
"What did he say?" Blair asked.   
  
"Sentinel, help me."   
  
***  
  
Author's note: I apologise for the short chapter. I'm blaming moving house. We should have a phone line when we move in, so with luck I'll still be able to use the internet. You may get an update.   
  
I'll do what I can. Reviewing might encourage me to write more. 


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: A big thank you to my reviewers. I'm sorry I haven't updated sooner, but real life doesn't understand about the need to write.   
  
***  
  
Jim stood with Blair by the man's bed in the hospital. The tests run hadn't found anything wrong with him, though not all of the test results had come back yet. Jim was just wondering how he could have known he was a sentinel. Only Blair and Simon knew, and neither of them would have told anyone.   
  
Soon the man began to come round. With a barely audible groan, he curled up into a ball, jamming his hands over his ears and screwing his eyes shut, an expression of pain on his face. Blair was looking at Jim, but Jim just kept staring at Dr Jackson. It was as though he found the hospital room to bright and too noisy.   
  
He could understand why. The stench of antiseptic was terrible for his heightened sense of smell, and the beepings of all the machines were beginning to drive him mad. It seemed as though this man was feeling the same thing he was, only worse.   
  
Because he hadn't learned to dial down his senses.   
  
Was it possible? Was this man lying in a hospital bed another sentinel?   
  
"Dr Jackson?" Jim asked, "Can you hear me?"   
  
"'Course," the man replied so quietly Jim had to turn up his hearing, "you're yelling."   
  
"I'm not yelling," Jim said as quietly as he could, "your hearing's too sensitive. I need you to picture a dial in your mind. That's your sense of hearing. It's way too high at the moment, so you need to turn the dial down. Can you do that?" The man nodded, and in a few moments the expression of pain faded.   
  
"Now do the same for sight. Turn that dial down." They ran through the process for each of his senses until the doctor was able to open his eyes and look round in a confused manner.   
  
"I'm trying to find a way to say this that isn't too corny, but I can't. So, where am I?" Jim grinned at Dr Jackson's attempt at humour.   
  
"Cascade General Hospital."   
  
"Cascade? As in Washington State? How the hell did I get here?"   
  
"You walked into the police station and collapsed. I'm Detective James Ellison. You know Blair Sandburg."   
  
"Hamburger, of course," Dr Jackson grinned. Jim looked questioningly at Blair, who was staring at his feet in an embarrassed manner.   
  
"Hamburger?"   
  
"Don't ask," Blair said, "please, don't ask." Jim decided to leave it be for now, he'd find some way to get the truth out of Blair later.   
  
"You don't remember coming to Cascade?" Jim asked.   
  
Dr Jackson shook his head. "I was at work, translating this tablet that we'd found. Then I started going dizzy and feeling. . . weird. Janet, she's my doctor, said that I should take a few days of work. Jack took me home and. . ." He swore.   
  
"What?"   
  
"I kissed him."   
  
"I take it that's not good."   
  
"He's my best friend, my straight best friend. That was probably the stupidest thing I've ever, probably even more stupid than that damn lecture."   
  
"What damn lecture?" Jim had to ask.   
  
"The one where Daniel here decided to tell the world that aliens built the pyramids."   
  
"I never said aliens," Dr Jackson protested, "all I said was that they were built far earlier than we thought, before the Egyptian culture was firmly established enough for them to have built them and with technology far in advance of what the Egyptians had for a considerable time." Dr Jackson began to go on, but Jim already getting lost and cultural cross-pollination wasn't as fascinating for him as it was for Blair.   
  
"Can we get back to the subject in hand?" Jim asked, "What happened after the kiss?"   
  
Dr Jackson's forehead creased with concentration as he strove to remember, "Jack freaked out and left, then I. . . I remember feeling I needed to go somewhere, but that's it. Everything else is blank until I woke up here."   
  
"You came into the police station and said something to me in the language of the Chopec Indians," Jim said, "Do you remember that?"  
  
Dr Jackson looked, if possible, even more confused. "I don't speak Amazonian dialects."   
  
"Well you did."   
  
"What did I say?"  
  
"'Sentinel, help me.'"   
  
"Sentinel?" Dr Jackson thought for a bit. "A sentinel would be a tribal protector with heightened senses, right?" Jim nodded. "I take it you are one?" Jim nodded again. "Sweet."   
  
"And so it would appear are you," Jim said. Dr Jackson looked at him in a puzzled manner, and then nodded.   
  
"So it would appear."   
  
"Have you had any experience with heightened sense in the past?" Jim asked.   
  
"No," Dr Jackson replied, "never. The first time was when I was translating that tablet."   
  
"What tablet?" Blair asked.   
  
"It was something found in a temple in a jungle, that said something about sentinels. I can't tell you what exactly, because I never got to finish the translation. But I don't think my senses going haywire at the same time as reading this tablet can be a coincidence. Maybe the tablet somehow did this to me." Jim noted that he didn't mention which jungle the temple was in, but he let that pass for now.   
  
"Someone can't be made a sentinel," Blair explained, "you either are one, or you're not. It's in the genes, so unless this tablet of yours can alter DNA, you're a sentinel." Dr Jackson didn't say anything in answer to that, but Jim got the distinct feeling he was hiding something.   
  
"Well, I can't say I object to having super powers," Dr Jackson said with a grin, "I just hope my friends won't be too jealous."   
  
"You can't tell anyone!" Jim said quickly and firmly. The man in the hospital bed looked a little startled at his abruptness.   
  
"Don't worry, I wasn't planning on announcing it to the world. But there are some people who have to know. Janet for instance, my doctor, she'll need to be told that she has to take care about my senses. And my team, we trust each other about everything." Jim assumed he meant an archaeological team.   
  
"You'd trust your team with your life?"  
  
"I already have done. And we all know the importance of keeping a secret."   
  
"I think Jim's right," Blair said, "it's better that they don't know unless absolutely necessary. We trust the people at the precinct, but we haven't told them."   
  
"I can't just hide things from my friends, not something this important anyway."   
  
"Remember, Daniel," Blair said, "it's not just your life at stake. If the government found out about sentinels you and Jim, and possibly me as well, would end up being taken off by the NID or some other alphabet soup organisation."   
  
"Trust me, my friends have no love for the NID." Jim frowned in confusion at that one, and shot Blair a questioning glance, but Blair seemed as ignorant of the meaning as he was.   
  
Blair was the one who eventually broke the awkward silence following Dr Jackson's declaration. "It'll probably take you a while to get the hang of your abilities, so you should probably stay with us for a few days. That's all right, isn't it, Jim?"   
  
"Sure, Chief," Jim responded, "You sort out the arrangements for his discharge while I make a phone call." He went outside the hospital. Dr Jackson might not be able to control his senses very well yet, but he didn't want to risk being overheard. He needed to talk to Simon.   
  
He felt a little guilty that he'd pretty much forbidden Dr Jackson from telling anyone, when they'd let someone in on the secret. It wasn't quite the same, since Simon had found out on his own, but it still made the situation a bit awkward.   
  
"Banks," Simon said as he answered the phone.   
  
"It's Ellison, have you found out anything about Dr Jackson yet?"   
  
"I've had a few searches run but I've got very little. Almost everything about his life falls under the category of Top Secret. It seems he works for the government." Jim felt dread seize him. He'd just told someone working for the government about his abilities. What if Dr Jackson's sentinel powers were an act? What if even now government agents were on their way to take him and Blair into custody? 


End file.
